Landlord Problems

[OMG!WTF!]

I don't know that a condo board has more power to evict than an owner. Breaking any of the condo rules would allow an owner to evict in two weeks rather than a full month as mandated in the condo act. And as far as making someone leave at the end of the eviction, there is nothing more a condo board can do other than apply to the courts for an order of possession just the same as any landlord would. I have no idea whether a judge would look more favorably upon a condo board application rather than an individual landlord but I do know that it will cost more to have the board apply.

[lazypucker]

Thank you for all the information.

Of course this eviction request did not come out of the blue. There were multiple official warnings for a multitude of violations (with evidence like security camera photos) being sent to my father and the tenant for the past few months, and of course every time the tenant would say they won't do it again, give me one more chance, blah blah blah.

My father always takes the "Don't bother me unless absolutely necessary" approach when dealing with tenants and condo boards / management companies. And similarly here he just wants to get this problem solved in the simplest and tension-free way.

Yes, I do think now the condo board is giving us a chance to end this ordeal in a somewhat amicable way and save all 3 sides the hassle and unnecessary animosity by giving a month for the tenant to leave. Now we just fear that the tenant will go full Rambo and trash the unit (and common area) before leaving...

[ken0042]

To help avoid the pace getting trashed, maybe approach it in an amicable way- in a "hey- sorry. I don't like it either; our hands are tied. However if we can all be cool, we will all be cool when it comes time for a reference."

Just do that part verbally- and when you get a call for a reference just confirm the dates that he was a tenant.

[FlamesAddiction]

Has anyone ever had a situation where a landlord won't take cheques because they are from a bank that doesn't have a local branch?

My wife has a Simplii Financial account (previously PC) which is a division and brand of CIBC. They won't take her cheques because they said there isn't a local branch. It is a non-bricks and mortar bank that doesn't use storefronts, but it is part of the CIBC family.

So I wrote the cheques from my CIBC account and they won't take those because my branch in from Manitoba, where I opened the account a very long time ago. They said that we have to pay cash unless we get a bank with a Vancouver area address.

Is this a reasonable request? I am not aware of any issues that would arise out of having an account with a bank from a different province. I have lived in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, and never had an issue using cheques from that bank account.

I went to the bank and they said that it would be a huge hassle to change my branch to a local one.

I am beyond irritated with this situation.

[photon]

What's a cheque?

Just send EMTs.

Maybe it's something about getting a cheque certified? I remember doing that sometimes for some reason (been a long time since I've got cheques from a tenant).

[lazypucker]

Pure guess - I think the landlord wants cheques from local branches because they cash faster (branches from other cities / provinces may take up to 5 business days to cash?)

Also most landlords would prefer post-dated cheques upfront as e-transfers have to be initiated manually every month and a lot of renters will conveniently "forget" to make transfers on the 1st...

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

Pure guess - I think the landlord wants cheques from local branches because they cashes faster (branches from other cities / provinces may take up to 5 business days to cash?)

Also most landlords would prefer post-dated cheques upfront as e-transfers have to be initiated manually every month and a lot of renters will conveniently "forget" to make transfers on the 1st...

Yeah, I offered etransfers and they said no. I wasn't aware there would be a time lag for the cheque to clear because it isn't local.

Ugh, so I guess I have to open up a new local account just for this. So annoying.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

I have 2 properties that use eTransfer and 2 that provide cheques. The eTransfer tenants are the most reliable by far.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteEbola

I have 2 properties that use eTransfer and 2 that provide cheques. The eTransfer tenants are the most reliable by far.

My last landlord had it set up so that we could make it a bill payment. It was easy because you can set them up online to be re-occurring payments and you never had to think about it. I am not sure if it is easy to set up, I assume that you need to have your properties registered as a business or something, but I wish everyone would do that.

[photon]

Yeah that's been my experience too.

[FlamesAddiction]

Man, these people are so out to lunch.

So when my wife and I decided to use her account for the rent, I transferred a bunch of money to her. Then when they told her that they wouldn't accept her Simplii Financial cheques, we transferred the money back to my account. Then when they said they wouldn't accept my out of province cheques and wanted cash for the first month and damage deposit, I went the the bank and took out the money.

When I showed up at their door with the money, they said it was OK and they cashed my wife's cheques and they would be fine in the future.

The problem? There is no money in that account now. So I had to go back to the bank to put the money back in, then etransfer it back to my wife.

And yes, I was stupid for not demanding the original cheques back to begin with. They seemed like honest people (and still seem honest, but just flaky), so I was going to politely ask for them tonight when I dropped the money off.

I hope to hell those cheques didn't bounce yet and the etransfer can be processed first.

I hate humans so much sometimes. To make matter worse, because all our stuff is packed, I have had to drive to my office (45 min round trip) each time to use the computer for the transfers.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Has anyone ever had a situation where a landlord won't take cheques because they are from a bank that doesn't have a local branch?

My wife has a Simplii Financial account (previously PC) which is a division and brand of CIBC. They won't take her cheques because they said there isn't a local branch. It is a non-bricks and mortar bank that doesn't use storefronts, but it is part of the CIBC family.

So I wrote the cheques from my CIBC account and they won't take those because my branch in from Manitoba, where I opened the account a very long time ago. They said that we have to pay cash unless we get a bank with a Vancouver area address.

Is this a reasonable request? I am not aware of any issues that would arise out of having an account with a bank from a different province. I have lived in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, and never had an issue using cheques from that bank account.

I went to the bank and they said that it would be a huge hassle to change my branch to a local one.

I am beyond irritated with this situation.

Cheques are cleared electronically now, they all clear in the same amount of time. A local branch doesn't matter at all.

I do only take post dated cheques from my tenants, because otherwise I have to chase them for e-transfers. Cheques I just cash.

[FireGilbert]

As amazing as the OP’s story was I’m more amazed people are still using cheques. I haven’t written a cheque for rent in a decade. I set up an automatic transfer for the length of the lease and forget about it. If for some reason this is missed then I get a warning which can escalate to fines or eviction. If I offered my landlord a cheque I’m pretty sure they would laugh at me.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Cheques are cleared electronically now, they all clear in the same amount of time. A local branch doesn't matter at all.

I do only take post dated cheques from my tenants, because otherwise I have to chase them for e-transfers. Cheques I just cash.

Post dated cheque’s? What year is this?

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Post dated cheque’s? What year is this?

Maybe you have had better luck with tenants than me. If I let people do e-transfer I end up having to chase them.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Cheques are cleared electronically now, they all clear in the same amount of time. A local branch doesn't matter at all.

I do only take post dated cheques from my tenants, because otherwise I have to chase them for e-transfers. Cheques I just cash.

There is nothing to prevent a bad client from simply cancelling post dated cheques.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by redforever

There is nothing to prevent a bad client from simply cancelling post dated cheques.

True, but that takes a bit more effort and would be an obvious active breach of the terms. With an etransfer, someone could conveniently just forget. Legally, there is probably no difference, but it’s because there is less effort, it is probably more tempting for people to do if they are trying to buy extra time.

[btimbit]

Last time I was renting I always sent the e-transfer on the 25th. That way if it was ever later than that there was time to arrange something before rent was late

[Smartcar]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I have had to drive to my office (45 min round trip) each time to use the computer for the transfers.

Can't you use your phone to do e-transfers?

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Cheques are way more popular than a lot of you guys are giving them credit for. Cheques are still quite common for a multitude of reasons. Not as common as they used to be, mind you, but far from some antiquated payment method that only luddites use.